Google Unveils New AI Training Program
Google has announced a brand-new, significant training program aimed at improving staff AI proficiency.
The project includes a $75 million AI Opportunity Fund to expand the course’s reach as well as a new Google AI Essentials Course that will be available on the online learning platform Coursera.
The $49 course on Coursera includes videos, texts, and interactive activities with the goal of providing students with practical experience utilizing AI in the workplace. Those who finish the course will receive a Google certificate.
Through grants to workforce development and education groups, the $75 million Google AI Opportunity Fund, administered through the company’s philanthropic arm, aims to enable at least one million Americans to attend the course and learn fundamental generative AI skills.
For instance, the course will be available to all students enrolled in Miami Dade College’s AI college-degree program, and working learners can take it at the University of Virginia’s Darden Executive Education and Lifelong Learning.
These and other groups will make it possible for the AI training to be made available at no cost to a number of societal groups, such as underprivileged and rural areas, teachers, students, public sector employees, leaders of charitable organizations, and small enterprises.
According to James Manyika, Senior Vice President for Research, Technology & Society at Google, “AI offers significant opportunities to accelerate economic growth, particularly if people have access to the right resources and training.” The statement was shared with the press.
The launch of Google’s AI Essentials Course and the new AI Opportunity Fund on Google.org are significant next steps in our mission to guarantee that AI training is accessible to everyone, everywhere. We are dedicated to working with government, business, and civil society organizations to make sure that everyone can take advantage of the opportunities brought about by new technology. We recognize that no one employer or legislator will be able to modernize workforce programs on their own,” Manyika continued.
Today, just half of workers have access to proper AI training, according to estimates from the World Economic Forum, despite the growing demand for AI capabilities across numerous economic sectors. Aiming to provide as many workers as possible with basic AI capabilities, Google unveiled the AI Opportunity Agenda in the previous year.
Goodwill will be among the first organizations to benefit from a Google.org AI Opportunity Fund grant. Given that over 80% of Americans reside less than ten miles from a Goodwill, it is anticipated that the charity will be able to provide Google’s AI Essentials course to numerous local communities on a volunteer basis.
Steve Preston, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, stated in the news release that “starting in 2017, our digital skills training work with Google.org has unlocked new opportunities for hundreds of thousands of workers, including many in lower-wage jobs.” We can assist US jobseekers in acquiring the fundamental digital and AI skills required to move into well-paying positions and have better opportunities for economic mobility by increasing our efforts and utilizing Google’s recently launched AI Essentials course.
